


Science Nerds

by Eowima



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Science Bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28812387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eowima/pseuds/Eowima
Summary: Peter is consulting for SHIELD for a special mission. He's arrived at the base way too early, and is bored out of his mind waiting for his briefing for the mission, so he decides to walk around and ends up meeting someone he's heard a lot about.
Relationships: Leo Fitz & Peter Parker
Comments: 18
Kudos: 35





	Science Nerds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MayBeBrilliant](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayBeBrilliant/gifts).



> Happy belated birthday May!!! :D I don't know if you remember this but we once had a conversation about how amazing it would be to have Fitz and Pete meet, so there you go!!  
> I hope you enjoy this ❤️❤️❤️

**Science nerds**

There is something almost eerie about being in the SHIELD's base very early in the morning. Peter can't really say what exactly. The hallways are empty, the lights dimmed. A few agents are coming back from missions and heading straight to the living quarters on the third sublevel, but apart from that he doesn't cross paths with anyone. As a result, he is bored out of his _mind_.

The only interesting thing that happened since he got here is that he's at least 86% sure that he spotted Daisy Johnson aka _Quake_ getting inside a quinjet when he entered the base at around 5:30 am. That had been absolutely freaking bonkers, but sadly nothing much had happened since then.

He's been brought in under the good word of Nick Fury, who recommended him to the new director of SHIELD, Alphonso Mackenzie. It's not the first time this happens – which is extremely exciting, _yes_ – but it _is_ the first time that he's asked to come so early for a mission. The trip there was horrible, he's running on two hours of sleep, and obviously he doesn't have cell service down there so he can't even talk with his best friends or anything.

Granted, Ned and MJ are probably not awake at the moment, but still.

Peter shakes his head with a sigh, scolding himself for being so childish. Yes, he is bored and tired, _but_ he's also in a super spy secret base about to embark on a dangerous mission to retrieve... well he isn't sure yet because he hasn't been briefed or anything, but it has to be interesting, right? For them to call him in? They need his help, how cool is that? Ah, he really can't wait to tell Ned and MJ everything! Or, well, everything he's allowed to tell them. They do make him sign a confidentiality thingy every time he consults for them.

He's hanging in the break room – literally, because yes, he is wearing his suit and hanging from the ceiling because he's so _bored_ – waiting to be called into the briefing room. He's almost tempted to take his mask off since he's on his own, but it's nice to have Karen in his ear so he doesn't. It kind of reminds him of that time ages ago in DC when he got stuck in that Damage Control facility and had to wait for _ages_ to get out of it and missed the Decathlon tournament. Not his proudest moment, ahem.

Thinking about this makes him realize that this time he isn't exactly stuck inside the break room and that it would probably be okay if he wandered around for a little while, seeing as the mission briefing doesn't seem to be starting anytime soon since he's the only one there. After pondering for a few minutes, he decides to do just that. He's Spider-Man after all, he can walk around a secret base and not be scolded at, right? No one knows he's a senior in High School here, they probably all think he's a grown-ass man fighting on their side – until he starts speaking, that is, ahem.

Anyway, _yes_ , he can have a look around, he's not gonna get in trouble for that. Right?

So that's what he does. He jumps down from the ceiling and starts walking around in the kinda creepy hallways, wishing his suit had pockets because he thinks he would appear more casual if he knew what to do with his freaking hands. All his concerns fade away when he walks past the entrance of what appears to be a lab of some sorts, because there's someone inside. At first, he's excited to finally see another human being when he's spent the last 45 minutes all on his own, but _then_ , then he realizes who that person is.

And he instantly starts to freak out because!! this!! is!! Doctor!! Leo!! Fitz!!

(All the exclamation points are exactly what's going on in his mind at this sight.)

Leopold Fitz, engineer extraordinaire, nothing less than a hero really, most of his work is classified because he used to work in SHIELD and didn't publish much papers after Hydra tried to destroy SHIELD back in 2014, but everything Peter's read, especially his work on his forensics drones, has been nothing short of incredible. Meeting this man is as exciting as meeting Dr Banner, honestly! God he's so lucky! Ned and MJ are gonna freak out!

There's a little voice inside his head telling him he should probably think things through before talking to him, but exhaustion makes Peter a little – a lot, would argue MJ – uninhibited, so he just bounces inside the lab, almost buzzing with excitement.

The man is hunched over his lab bench, working on what looks like a prosthetic of some sorts, and he looks up from his work with a startled expression when Peter accidentally bumps into a stool. They stare at each other in surprise, and Peter finds himself to have lost his words for a moment – which is crazy, he's met a lot of his heroes over the years, why would he be intimidated by Leo Fitz? He's just an incredible man that Peter is pretty sure invented time travel at roughly the same time as Tony Stark did – _nuts!_

"Excuse-me, Dr Fitz sir?" Peter says, mouth very dry, "hi, Mr Doctor, I mean, Mr Fitz, I'm–" he cuts himself when he spots his own extended hand and realizes that he is in the suit and he can't introduce himself as Peter Parker because that would be dumb – "I'm Spider-Man, sir, um, big, big fan of your work, I mean your work on the ICERS is absolutely amazing and the Golden Retrievers are incredible too, I mean Mr Stark introduced me to your work a little while back and really at first it was kinda tough because obviously they don't teach many notions on advanced engineering even in Midtown High, I mean Ned and I still managed to understand most of it after a while because the way you explain things is genius but I mean–"

"You're in High School?" Fitz cuts him, his strong Scottish accent almost a surprise to Peter's ears.

Then he registers the meaning of his words, and he freezes, mind absolutely blank. Well, crap.

There's a small silence in the lab, and Peter is pretty sure he's lost complete control over his brain, experiencing what could be called a cerebral blue screen of death of some sorts. He really is shit at this whole secret identity thing.

"Uhhh..."

A small smile stretches the scientist's lips, and he shakes his head. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Peter deflates in his relief, letting out a deep sigh and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Thanks."

"So what are you doing around here, Spider-Man?" Fitz asks, going back to his tinkering, and Peter feels a little rush of excitement at the idea that Leo Fitz is willing to carry on a conversation with him. How cool is that?

"Ha, um, well Mr Mackenzie brought me in for a mission?" he replies, not entirely sure why he sounds like he's asking a question, but Fitz doesn't seem to notice it as he looks back at him with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, you're the special asset he was talking about then," he nods like it makes sense, and there it is again, that spark of enthusiasm.

"I'm the asset?" Peter says, barely holding himself back from jumping up and down a couple of times. "Cool!" There's a small silence, and he stands there a little awkwardly as Fitz focuses back on his prosthetic. Peter kind of desperately wants to talk to him some more, maybe ask him what he's working on, but he doesn't want to be annoying either. He lets his gaze wander around the lab, noticing that half of it seems unused, and the question is out of his mouth before he can even stop himself: "Is Dr Simmons here too?"

When he looks back at Fitz, the man is smiling a little, scratching behind his ear. "Nope, but she'll be happy when I tell her you asked, she's been talking about your webs for ages!"

"Whoa, really?"

Fitz nods in amusement again. "Did you design them yourself?" he asks, settling his screwdriver down and gesturing to a stool for him to sit.

Peter's a little glad that his mask is on, because he's always told he has a very expressive face and the look of absolute delight he probably has on right now might be a little much, but come on, it's _Leo Fitz_ asking him about his webs, how amazing is _that_? "I did actually," he says, bouncing to the stool and sitting there, "the initial compound anyway, then Mr Stark helped me when he upgraded my suit!"

"So you work with Stark?"

"Yeah, he lets me use his labs sometimes," Peter responds with a shrug, trying to sound casual but probably failing entirely because that _is_ really cool.

"Lucky."

"You should drop by someday!" Peter offers without even thinking. "Well I mean, if you want to, I heard you and Dr Simmons were retired but–"

"Oh yeah we are," Fitz responds, pulling a face, "I'm just consulting with SHIELD for this particular operation, but otherwise we're out of all of this."

"That's cool, I mean um, really, it's an honor to have the opportunity to work with you, Dr Fitz."

Fitz waves his praises away with another face, but he doesn't look annoyed, maybe just a little embarrassed, and Peter lets out a little breath of relief. "Well I'm no stranger to your exploits either," the man tells him after a minute, "and my daughter loves you, so really the pleasure is mine."

Peter is pretty sure his huge smile is obvious even from behind his mask. "Thank you sir, it means a lot."

Fitz nods with a small grin, then there's another awkward pause. It's not uncomfortable though. Just them both probably trying to figure out what to say next. Peter knows a thing or two about being an awkward person, and he's pretty sure Fitz knows too. There are so many things he'd like to ask him about, and from Fitz's invitation to sit he thinks the man would be okay with it, but he doesn't really know where to start.

The silence stretches around them, until they both start speaking at the same time:

"So your forensics drones are amazing–"

"What kind of functionalities does your suit have?"

There's another pause, and then it's like they're both unleashed and start talking excitedly about everything from Peter's use of Fitz's research to upgrade Drony – his little drone friend that resides at the center of his chest (Fitz is very impressed) – to Fitz's latest project on designing incredibly live-like prosthetics. They brush so many fascinating projects that they don't realize the hour is turning, and soon they've been talking for an hour when it feels like ten minutes have passed.

Fitz – he's insisted he called him that – is showing Peter an old Golden Retriever and offering him to take it apart to really see how it works – best way to understand anything, in his opinion – when there's noises outside of the lab and they both look up to see Nick Fury and Director Mackenzie walking in with frown on their faces.

"I should have known you two science nerds would hit it off," Fury sighs, staring at them impatiently.

"Mr Director, sir, sorry," Peter stands up in surprise, rushing to shake Mack's hand, "Dr Fitz was just showing me a few things–"

"Ha, no wonder you like him Turbo, you got him to call you Dr Fitz when no one else would," the tall man grins, shaking Peter's hand but looking in amusement at Fitz behind him.

"You bloody well know that's not–" the other man starts indignantly, but he's cut by Fury clearing his throat.

"You done?" he asks sharply. "We got things to do."

Peter feels his cheeks turn a little red – he's taken his mask off while discussing with Fitz to show him the interface and present him to Karen – but nods, risking a glance at Fitz. The scientist is rolling his eyes and mumbling grumpily about them being late anyway, and Peter can't help his smile. He meets his eyes and Fitz makes a face at him, then they both follow Fury and the director out of the lab. Peter tugs his mask back on, bouncing his way down the hallway.

He honestly cannot believe his luck. He just spent an hour talking science with one of his heroes, and now he gets to work with him on a secret mission. It honestly doesn't get better than this.

He definitely cannot _wait_ to tell Ned and MJ about all of this.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are deeply appreciated! :D


End file.
